Police: Football fan stabbed outside Candlestick Park

SAN FRANCISCO -- An Elk Grove resident was expected to survive after he was stabbed during an argument between two groups of football fans near Candlestick Park just as Sunday's 49ers home game was getting under way, police said.

Two suspects were arrested within minutes a short distance away, police said. No other injuries were reported.

The victim, identified only as being 27 years old, was with five friends when the suspects approached them around 1:35 p.m. on Harney Way near Jamestown Road, on the southwest side of the stadium, according to Sgt. Michael Andraychak of the San Francisco Police Department. Tens of thousands of fans were inside the stadium for the 1:25 p.m. start of the 49ers' home game against the New York Giants.

The two groups got into a verbal argument; one of the suspects then pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim in the torso, Andraychak said.

The suspects were arrested a few minutes later at the intersection of Blaken Avenue and Executive Park Drive, about two blocks away from the stabbing, police said. They were identified only as a 22-year-old Daly City man and a 30-year-old San Francisco man.

Officers from the SFPD's Gang Task Force were assisting in the investigation, Andraychak said, but it was not clear what started the argument.

Anyone who witnessed the stabbing is asked to call investigators at 415-671-2300. Anonymous tips can be phoned in to 415-575-4444 or texted to TIP411 by beginning the text with "SFPD."